I have a Garmin Nuvi. Mostly I use it to navigate around towns and the cities. The ETA is also useful, and pretty accurate. Can get turse with me when I take a wrong turn but will patiently recalculate to get me back on track. There are probably lots of features that I havn't found but for my purposes its pretty good.
I have a Navman Lynnie, I am happy with it, Navman sent me an email yesterday with a free map upgrade which I have done. They said in the email that they try to do 4 upgrades a year and when I registered it I ended up with 3 years free upgrades. I wasn't expecting that as I got it second hand so ended up with a better deal than first thought.
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DOUGChief One Feather (Losing feathers with age)
TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
DEN....... 2014 "Chief" Arrow CV (with some changes)
My gps is great, if a bit misleading at times.I am still finding features that I didn,t know it had. I guess its a learning pricess.Its like most computers, you have to program it to suit your self.Otherwise, to find places, its great. Bill
-- Edited by bill12 on Sunday 5th of February 2012 08:56:22 AM
I have a 'chinese brand' GPS with reversing camera. Ive used the 'find a town' and make it the destination (when I took that wrong turn at alberkerky [ is there an alberkerky in Aust?]). got me back on track with NPs. The only thing was it 'jumps' off its mounting bracket so I cant use it when Im driving very well, just rest it on the dash when desperate. When doing searches etc. I pull over to use it (Im lost, oops, taking a scenic route anyway by then) see if what it suggests makes sence, or use the map to check alternatives.
Ive found it a great help. The camera is a wireless one and Ive used it (on its mount) to help when reversing, I still try to use the mirrors more so I get used to them.
I have a Navman MY75T that I mainly use for keeping track of ETA's and present location when travelling, but around towns obviously, mostly navigating from A to B. Another Thing you can do is find the closest bank, petrol station, restaurant and many other catorgarised places and tourist information from subscriptions from Lonely Planet. I have also loaded the camps listed in camps 6 in mine as well as a few other downloadable poi files for eg BCF, Supercheap, and a few other major retailers which is good if you are in an unfamiliar town and need to find something. I have also fitted a reversing camera to the back of my vehicle and use the GPS screen as the display for that too. By adding pictures to an SD card you can link pictures to land mark location as well apparently, but I haven't bothered with that function. Glad to hear you got the free updates too Dougwe.
It was a big surprise Bill but a welcome one. I will look into that camera idea, I was unaware you could use the My75T screen with a reversing camera, you learn something every day.
__________________
Live Life On Your Terms
DOUGChief One Feather (Losing feathers with age)
TUG.......2014 Holden LT Colorado Twin Cab Ute with Canopy
DEN....... 2014 "Chief" Arrow CV (with some changes)
Thanks for your responses. I appreciate you giving your perspectives. I am also planning to purchase a reversing camera, so that will be a consideration. I went into the store yesterday thinking that I would be buying a Navman. The saleswoman had previously had a Navman and now has a Garmin, which seems to be very user friendly. I will continue with my research so that I end up with a unit that best suits my needs.
I bought a garmin nuvi 3790 I have also added my own custom POI They include coles fuel outlets/woolworth fuel outlets/dump points/public toilets/free camps/and tv towers(know which way to aim tv antenna On top of that I also installed shonky maps so have 2 map sets All good
Garman & I think tomtom, you can get all the free camps in the latest camps book download from the camps site and put them in your GPS, very easy to use, I have a Garmin unit
We use a Tom Tom and its now 7 years old and had plenty of use, the new ones probably have new features but our most used are the settings that set off an alarm near school zones and we also use the speedo option all the time as its much more accurate, also use time to destination.
I have found the Tom Tom very accurate and reliable except like all GPS units you can't rely on them when in cities with tall buildings, another benifit on the newer Tom Tom is the lane indicator which tells you which lane to travel in for your next exit.
I previously owned a Garmin and would not purchase another one it was a dud and after sales service was non existent.
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Garman & I think tomtom, you can get all the free camps in the latest camps book download from the camps site and put them in your GPS, very easy to use, I have a Garmin unit
We use a Tom Tom and its now 7 years old and had plenty of use, the new ones probably have new features but our most used are the settings that set off an alarm near school zones and we also use the speedo option all the time as its much more accurate, also use time to destination.
I have found the Tom Tom very accurate and reliable except like all GPS units you can't rely on them when in cities with tall buildings, another benifit on the newer Tom Tom is the lane indicator which tells you which lane to travel in for your next exit.
I previously owned a Garmin and would not purchase another one it was a dud and after sales service was non existent.
That's a shame you had a bad experience with Garmin, they are one of the better brands and were offering lifetime free map updates with most of their models a little while ago.
Just goes to show how it's horses for courses doesn't it, we have had two Garmins now and find them very good.
Hi Ma & Blue, yep, horses for courses for sure. I had 2 navmans (expensive too) that froze to death in tassie! I now have a basic Garmin & think its the bee's knee's. Every brand has issue's that leave a sour taste I think.
Garman & I think tomtom, you can get all the free camps in the latest camps book download from the camps site and put them in your GPS, very easy to use, I have a Garmin unit
You can load them on most of the GPS's these days
That's good to know, I did know about Garmin because that is what I have, did not know about most GPS.
Just goes to show how it's horses for courses doesn't it, we have had two Garmins now and find them very good.
Hi Ma & Blue, yep, horses for courses for sure. I had 2 navmans (expensive too) that froze to death in tassie! I now have a basic Garmin & think its the bee's knee's. Every brand has issue's that leave a sour taste I think.
You bet it does Womby, just an hour ago I thought we would have to trade the kayak for ski gear as it was so cold and the rain straight from the South Pole
You bet it does Womby, just an hour ago I thought we would have to trade the kayak for ski gear as it was so cold and the rain straight from the South Pole
Hi Every make has ex-users who have horror stories about them. My experience is get largest screen you can find/afford. We have touch screen model as well so makes it easier to move around/make display bigger. Try controls out in store before you buy. BTW sometimes ours gets a little 'confused', and I swear one of these days its going to say, 'Can't you people follow directions!!!'
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